the murmur Norwich Medical School October 2015 Junior Doctor Contract Fury In This Issue… Bruno Gnaneswaran, Liban Ahmed, Peter Baines, Nick Smith, BMA Reps, MedSoc, MedSin, and more. Edited By Ryan Laurence Love. Healthcare professionals and members of the general public alike have reacted with fury at the impending imposition of a new contract for junior doctors. The contract talks, first reported on by The Murmur in November 2014, had stalled after the BMA representatives walked away from ‘negotiations’ last year. Amongst the many proposed changes to the contract, there is a recalculation of unsociable hours and changes to the payment structure of GP trainees. In light of the vociferous outcry, and with many juniors threatening to seek work overseas, the BMA has opted to ballot members for strike action. Also planned are protests, in London and Manchester, providing further evidence that these changes won’t be implemented without a fight. Health secretary Jeremy Hunt has, in an open letter, vaguely tried to re-open a dialogue in an attempt to save face, but as of yet there is no sign of concession in any of the areas that critics state will have a disastrous impact upon the working conditions of doctors, and subsequently the safety of patients. As ever, major updates will continue to be reported in The Murmur. Sunrise over Cristo Rei, Timor Leste by Phil Metcalf. Winner of the 2015 Elective photo competition, as chosen by Prof. Richard Holland.
Transcript
the murmurNorwich Medical School October 2015
Junior Doctor Contract Fury
In This Issue… Bruno Gnaneswaran, Liban Ahmed, Peter Baines, Nick Smith, BMA Reps, MedSoc, MedSin, and more.
Edited By Ryan Laurence Love.
Healthcare professionals and members of the general public alike have reacted with fury at the impending imposition of a new contract for junior doctors. The contract talks, first reported on by The Murmur in November 2014, had stalled after the BMA representatives walked away from ‘negotiations’ last year.
Amongst the many proposed changes to the contract, there is a recalculation of
unsociable hours and changes to the payment structure of GP trainees.
In light of the vociferous outcry, and with many juniors threatening to seek work overseas, the BMA has opted to ballot members for strike action.
Also planned are protests, in London and Manchester, providing further evidence that these changes won’t be implemented without a fight.
Health secretary Jeremy Hunt has, in an open letter, vaguely tried to re-open a dialogue in an attempt to save face, but as of yet there is no sign of concession in any of the areas that critics state will have a disastrous impact upon the working conditions of doctors, and subsequently the safety of patients.
As ever, major updates will continue to be reported in The Murmur.
Sunrise over Cristo Rei, Timor Leste by Phil Metcalf. Winner of the 2015 Elective photo competition, as chosen by Prof. Richard Holland.
Welcome to another year at Norwich Medical School.
With another year comes another round of new challenges. Regardless of your year of study, your academic or other merits, or your background; we are all in this together.
At The Murmur we hope to provide all students and staff with a small insight into the life and minds of those at Norwich Medical School.
Think of The Murmur as a conduit, for creativity, opinion and thought, and for news. We are always happy to receive contributions, gleefully accept offers of help, and willingly promote your events.
Now let me begin to introduce myself, and I start with an apology - historically the role of editor has been passed on after one year, but alas my own laziness and inability to access the internet whilst on elective during the summer means the task of headhunting was rather neglected.
When The Murmur was founded the editor was Lucy-Anne Webb, now a foundation year 2 doctor at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, and succeeding her was Matt Gerlach, a final year medic with a previous English Literature degree.
My own qualifications do not quite compare to my illustrious predecessors; I am Ryan Love, an intercalating final year medic, currently studying for an MRes at UEA. I
entered UEA over 5 years ago as a foundation year student, and I my enthusiasm landed me with the role of editor during my fourth year as a medical student.
The Murmur will continue under my guidance, for the time being. I say ‘the time being’ because I hope that this will change soon, I am looking for anybody (or more) who is/are keen to take on this role.
To this extent, it is also my hope that editor of The Murmur can become an electable position, within your MedSoc. To do this would add some formality and hopefully ensure the ongoing future of this publication. Whilst these negotiations (consisting of sporadic Facebook messages on my part) are ongoing, I will continue to publish as much and as often as I can.
I do hope this is okay, and that you enjoy the submissions that your colleagues have worked so hard to produce.
My final ramble is a familiar one for long term readers. If you would like to contribute anything to this magazine-newsletter-newspaper then please do. I am contactable on Facebook, or via email ([email protected]).
Whether it’s sports journalism, creative writing, investigative scoops or just a plain old rant - we want your words (and pictures).
Thank you, Ryan Laurence Love.
From the Editor
Your BMA RepresentativesOver a cold pint in the York Tavern last Spring, two naïve third years decided to stand to be your representatives to the British Medical Association. Fortunately for us we were elected and it is our great privilege to represent your views to the national medical students committee (MSC). Our role has been rather more eventful than either of us had anticipated, and we wanted to let you know what we are doing for you, and what the BMA offers its student members. We also would like to encourage you to let us know what worries you and what you would like the BMA to do for you.
A quick introduction to us both. We are both fourth years, and we bonded over excruciatingly long and occasionally life-threatening bus trips to primary care in Felixstowe. Joe is a coffee addict, (very) occasional runner and appalling LCR dancer. Victoria is a Cath Kidston enthusiast with a penchant for West Country cider. She dances rather better.
The Junior Doctor Contracts
As nearly all but the most reclusive of you will know, the government has threatened to impose a new contract for
junior doctors, and much of our time has been in trying to find out what exactly will happen, and to input into national discussions about the BMA response. This has now been completed, and the overwhelming consensus I received from UEA students was to support junior doctors should they decide to strike. At the time of writing, a ballot is currently taking place to canvass the opinions of juniors.
Both Victoria and I have received suggestions on how students may support any eventual industrial action. It is important to stress that striking has obscenely complicated laws surrounding it, but the most important implication for us is that students cannot strike. So downing board markers and exiting PBL amid cries of “Do you hear the people sing!” is likely to render us vulnerable to disciplinary action from the medical school. We are currently discussing productive ways of supporting junior doctors should they decide to strike, but we would strongly encourage you to read some the posts on the BMA at UEA page (details below), as well as the more detailed information on the BMA website. Continued…
Please share (especially to non-medics) the dangers of this new contract, particularly with respect to patient safety.
Some of the many sticking points yet to be resolved include, a) reclassifying Saturday as ‘social hours’, so reducing pay for working antisocial hours, b) loss of the GP training supplement, exacerbating the GP recruitment crisis, c) reduced pay for non-resident on-calls and d) removal of safety nets preventing juniors from working unsafe hours.
Other issues
There are also a number of other issues that we are contributing to, and which we would love your input on. These include feeding into a national review on widening participation in medical school, with a view to write some guidance on best practice for medical schools. This has already started at UEA. We are also continuing to lobby the government on the implications of removing the maintenance grant, as well as highlight the iniquity around the NHS bursary for final years. We are talking to the Department of Health about the financial disparity between graduate and undergraduate students, particularly in reference to tuition fees. We have also submitted our views into the GMC consultation on their new guidance on student professional values and fitness to practice, and tried to ensure that students receive as much support as possible during FtP hearings.
Benefits of BMA membership
The BMA is both a trade union and a professional organisation, and as such is only as strong as its members. Please consider joining if you have not already done so! We can only claim to represent your views unless you join us and tell us what they are. Some of the many student benefits include free access to BMJ Learning Modules, access to webinars, use of the BMA library, telephone counselling provision and medical ethics advice. The BMA library in particular is under-utilised at UEA, and provides free access to thousands of journals and ebooks including the Crash Course, At A Glance, Oxford Handbook and Lecture Notes series. Most of these are not available from the UEA library. You can also borrow books via the free postal loans service. To add to this superb facility, BMJ Learning provides hundreds of clinical modules relevant to our LOs, and these come with a quiz to assess your progress. Membership is free for first years, is £3 a month for second and third years, and is £3.50 a month for fourth and finalists.
Please let us know what issues you would like us to campaign on, and please feel free to send us abuse, feedback or questions at our FB page (www.facebook.com/BMAatUEA), at [email protected] or [email protected].
Welcome to all our new members and welcome back to all existing members too. I hope you are settling in nicely and you’re looking forward to the year ahead.
This year we are trying to really up our game. We’ve developed some key aims that we hope to achieve over the year.
The first of which is to increase engagement with members. We hope to do this through the use of questionnaires, sub committees for the medical academic societies and sports clubs and using our diversity as a committee to get back in touch with our members.
Secondly, we want to appeal to everyone. By increasing our repertoire with additions such as dry socials, campaigns and more educational events we can increase participation from all groups.
And finally, we want to be more transparent. Efforts to publish the budget will come to fruition soon. Other ways we are increasing transparency is introducing a questionnaire box and being more open with the things we do.
This term we have events such as the Halloween campus crawl and the MedSoc Christmas ball. Log on to our social media for more details. We are also running educational events throughout the year with the first year logbook evening which kicked us off at the end of September.
We have recently chosen our charity for this year Medic to Medic. Our chosen charity supports disadvantaged medical
students (as well as physiotherapists, pharmacists and nurses) in Malawi and Uganda to achieve their ambition of successfully qualifying as a health worker in their home country. To raise money we will be organising a group to run the Norwich Half Marathon in November and MRAG week next year. Amongst this we will be running a few smaller fundraising events to achieve our target of £4,000.
We have introduced a number of MedSoc campaigns for our members. This year we are backing the action by the BMA against changes to the junior doctor contracts, and liaising with other medical schools about action we can take. We’re also in talks to get blood donation on UEA campus and working with the medical school to look at introducing dyslexia and dyscalculia screening tests for all first year medical students. We would love to have your input on our campaigns, so please do email with suggestions or queries.
We’re changing what MedSoc has been historically, moving us forward to produce a more economical, fruitful and transparent society that works for all of us, equally.
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Who Loves a Brute?UEA creates proud graduates. We are proud of our rankings in league tables, of our record on green issues, of our alumni (did anyone mention Greg James?). Proud of our inclusivity, and progressive policies, and unwittingly, instinctively proud of our annual superiority of over our apparent rivals, the University of Essex.
But are people proud of the campus we are so fortunate to study in? Don't get me wrong; It is easy to be proud of the Ziggurats, distinctive in their symbolic structure, famous for being a perennial feature in every photo of UEA ever taken. And the Sainsbury centre too, a home to worldwide art installations, now immortalised in film history thanks to Iron man and co. But what of the rest of UEA? Concrete predominates, and yet few know just how important this is. Those readers who have ever been on, or given a campus tour to prospective students will inevitably recall a barrage of spurious facts about the campus; UEA is home to the longest teaching wall in Europe (I don't know either). UEA has an almost Olympic size swimming pool, but is millimetres too short due to being measured before the tiles were fitted (how I wish this nugget were true, but alas it is urban myth). UEA was the first university to go fairtrade. We all have our reasons to love unique qualities of UEA.
But I love the concrete.
In the sun, beating off the square as I lament those with sparse enough course hours to enjoy it, as I spy them sitting, meandering, bathing. In spite of knowing that nobody is ever actually comfortable as they are draped across those steps.
In the rain, as puddles pool on the raised walkways, for the sole purpose of seeping through my suede shoes, when I find yourself wondering how it ever drains away as it trickles endlessly through the concrete maze.
The concrete is the very fabric of UEA, and it's monotony of grey is more charismatic than people know. For those interested in this sort of thing, the thick concrete walls of UEA, and the distinctive ziggurat pyramids are known as prime examples of brutalist architecture. To take this name on face value, it leads to imagery of sharp angles, imposing structures and stifling facades. And this isn't wrong, per se. But brutalism does not take its name from roots in violence or mythology. It is derived from the French ‘beton brut’, meaning wet or raw concrete. And here we return to concrete. The seemingly unforgiving and ubiquitous structure, synonymous with post war Britain and ugly buildings.
One would imagine that to create a building from concrete would be akin to building a house of Lego blocks, mix it up, pour into blocks and stack like bricks. But I am reliably formed that this means is in fact delicate and difficult; a concrete building is a sign of true linesman-ship and deftness of architecture.
I recently listened to a podcast, from '99% invisible’ - a must for those with any interest in story telling or design. The episode was a defence of brutalism through discussion over
Boston a City Hall (pictured) a building that strikingly divides opinion in America. The programme creators outline why this building was so important, and I found myself nodding along.
My Churchill the dog impression became more exaggerated as I realised that they were basically talking about UEA. The podcasts ends with a plea for the moniker of brutalism to be dropped, opting for a less stigmatic term; 'heroic architecture'.
The reasons for this are as follows, and I believe are at least some way relevant to every concrete ‘monstrosity’ that our cities and towns are filled with. Concrete, despite its difficulty in manufacture, is universal, widely available and sturdy. It has a permanence, and solidity that is intrinsically suited to its main purpose; to house and shelter. This material could not be more suited to the institutions which it regularly provides foundation; tower housing blocks, hospitals, prisons. Yet it is much maligned, for its apparent lack of beauty. Concrete may be synonymous with the oppression of East Germany, or the powerhouses of communist states, but these associations do not pay homage to the way it enables the human race; to rebuild, recharge and re-home. Post war Britain owes its existence to the concrete harbours of the Normandy landings, and from the rubble of the blitz rose yet more concrete.
Concrete buildings are almost universally created for a public purpose, many with noble ideals. Rarely a material of choice, but always the option of reliability. In modern architecture, concrete is the skeleton on which we all depend. Are the most successful models not the most striking? To malign concrete, and brutalism is akin to attaching significance and beauty as only skin-deep. We are not that shallow.
Perhaps as we consider our surroundings, we can begin to truly appreciate that as students at UEA we are extremely fortunate. As we prepare for our futures we do so in the selfless warmth of our concrete fortresses; the ziggurats, the library and our square. So often we pass through without realising what we are surrounded by. UEA may lack red brick marvel, and ornate carvings of our illustrators competitors, and Hollywood and its Avengers may have focused on the glass and steel of the SCVA, but at the heart UEA we have the true superhero of architecture. Concrete.
Interestingly, I am not alone in my quest to celebrate concrete; the National Trust have just begun offering guided tours of brutalist masterpieces; London’s Southbank Centre, Sheffield’s Park Hill flats, and our very own UEA campus.
Ryan Laurence Love
Ciaran ScottWhere did you go?Magpas helimedix What did you do?During my time with the team I had a chance to join them in the air flying to various incidence, and also got to have time in there dedicated car. In addition i got a chance to attend a week long national course for for prehospital emergency medical at the fire service college, where i got a chance to meet lots of senior medics and paramedics. During the course i got a chance to learn how to do a thoracotomy, thoracostomy, tracheotomy, pain management and perform other prehospital care. As part of the course i was a patient and so spent a lot of the week under, in and pulled out of cars, lorries, trains, planes, JCB's, collapsed building and forklifts. What was your highlight?my highlight was being able to attend the national course and learn about all how different situations are managed, and learn a lot of new skill. In addition to being able to fly to incidence and see a variety of different emergencies What was the worst bit?The worst bit of my elective was witnessing the death of a young patient, however this was also very interesting as i witnessed the whole team working really effectively together in a very stressful environment. the support the whole team give each other and me during my whole time was amazing and i really enjoyed every moment. What did you learn?I learnt a lot from me elective on how to deal with both stressful and demanding situation. i also got to witness how to look after critically ill patients out of a normal hospital setting. Has your elective changed your outlook/future career plans?yes my elective has made me reconsider my future career to doing emergency medicine as a future career choice as apposed to anaesthetics
SIMON BEASLEYWhere did you go? Chris Hani Baragwaneth hospital, Johannesburg, South AfricaWhat did you do? TraumaWhat was your highlight? Being trusted to manage seriously ill patients and lead resuscitations. It felt like I made a difference when I put in a chest drain or diagnosed someone without senior help.What was the worst bit? Putting a needle in my finger (twice) and losing some very young children that didn’t need to die.What did you learn? A lot, management of critically ill trauma patients. A lot of practical skills from cannulas, to chest drains and intubationHas your elective changed your outlook/future career plans? Yes. I would love to go back out there for a few years and work in the trauma department. I also have decided I want to do some sort of acute medicine in England
Suresh UjjalWhere: Thailand. The Clinic provides free healthcare and many other services predominately to Burmese migrants living nearby in refugee camps or those who travel from Burma; people who would otherwise have no access to healthcare. The Clinic is resource poor so there is much more dependency on clinical examination. I wanted to be an integral member of the team to those in a less fortunate position than myself, rather than just observe. The elective also involves rotating through several different departments, which was ideal, as I am unsure of which specialty to pursue.What did you do? General Surgery, Obstetrics, Neonatology, Ophthalmology, Teaching EnglishAway from the clinic there is so much to do. You can rent a bike and head up into the mountains nearby to see the amazing scenery and waterfalls. In terms of food, it’s so good and so cheap! The border crossing into Burma is a few km away, where there are some interesting temples to see (including one on top of a crocodile). Traveling around Thailand after the elective, the beaches are idyllic and there is some of the best rock climbing spots in the world. What was your highlight? In the Obstetrics department, I admitted a young lady who unfortunately suffered a miscarriage 5 days post-RTA. During the consultation she began to pass the fetus! I held her hand during this, as she was screaming and very frightened. Despite the obvious language barrier, I developed a real rapport and connection to this patient during her stay, managing her care. When she thanked me for all my help, it reinforced the reasons I decided to become a doctor!What was the worst bit?During my time in Medical Inpatients, I met a 15-year-old boy who was not only homeless and had no family but had end stage lymphoma and was palliative. His lymphadenopathy was so severe that you could see lymph nodes all over his body from the bedside. This was deeply upsetting and made me realise how lucky I am to have been born in England. Another patient, I will never forget was a middle aged lady who had come in with signs of hyperthyroidism, after 5 days of having symptoms. She had previously been diagnosed with hyperthyroidism and for some unknown reason had stopped taking her medications. Although being stable, due to a lack of medications and investigations she unexpectedly suffered a seizure and sadly passed away. The staff at the clinic were used to seeing patients pass away due to a lack of resources and this is something I will never ever forget. Summary: There were some high, low and shocking points to the elective but if I had to do it again I wouldn’t do anything different. It was everything I was hoping the elective to be and more. In terms of my career choice, I am more confused than before having enjoyed all the different departments. But one thing is for sure, I will definitely return to volunteer at the Clinic as a doctor.
Electives 2015
Megan Fraser
Where did you go? SamoaWhat did you do? Rural medicineWhat was your highlight? All the amazing people I met was probably the best part. Everyone was so welcoming and lovely. I think we have made new friends for life. It was amazing.What was the worst bit? 36 hours of travelling to get home- we would definitely have made a stop over if we had known how brutal it would be!Has your elective changed your outlook / future career plans?No because it was very general but I still found it extremely interesting and fun.
Zainab Bazeer
Where did you go? ThailandWhat did you do? Obstetrics and GynaecologyHas your elective changed your outlook?Elective has changed my outlook on the attitudes to birth around the world and the woman who undergo Labour. Women in Thailand seem to have little power in their birth choices, with options such as water birth being virtually impossible. Almost every women I saw had an episitiomy and whether this be due to cephalopelvic distribution, it was interesting to see how this was by a choice. They also seemed to be mild mannered and less demanding in their needs, neither were they fazed by the assistance of medical students
Felicity FraserWhere did you go? I wanted to go somewhere that was developing, where the healthcare system and way of life would be vastly different. Incorporating this requirement with sun, white beaches, clear-blue sea and wonderful friendly people, I chose the Philippines.
What did you do? My elective was split between the hectic city life in an ER department in Iloilo and rural clinics on the chilled-out island of Guimares. The 2 environments were stark in contrast despite being a 10 minute boat away from one another. I spent 3 weeks resuscitating patients, suturing wounds form RTAs and intubating unconscious patients after violent machete attacks in A&E, whilst carrying out baby checks, vaccinations and blood pressure investigations in my rural placement for 1 week. The intriguing thing about the Philippines is the islands are different in their culture and habitat. I was able to sunbathe on the westernised island of Boracay, whale-shark dive in Cebu and go trekking and marvel at the singing children of Antique.
What was your highlight? Whale shark diving in Cebu! Gorgeous, huge, gentle creatures at our finger-tips.
What was the worst bit? My memorable (but worst) experience was a days-old girl who had been born in a village just outside of Iloilo. The mother had received no care throughout the pregnancy and the baby looked premature despite being term. After coming in septic and unable to feed we were able to stabilise baby after gaining ventilatory and IV access and starting antibiotics. Despite this, although she was still frail, the family removed her lines and simply took her away after learning that her outcome was still relatively poor. An extremely sad thing to experience after all we had done and an eye opener in terms of their views on healthcare and dying.
What did you learn? It was truly humbling going to a country that was 3rd world where the healthcare is so poor and busy yet the staff and people are so welcoming and friendly. The NHS has its moments but being out there made me realise how truly lucky I am and we all are. My elective set me up and prepared perfectly for 5th year and re- ignited my passion for medicine again. Now I'm looking forward to the real thing and ready to get onto the wards in 2016!
Charlie FinlowWhere did you go? The Solomon IslandsWhat did you do? A&E, Internal Medicine and Obs and GynaeWhat was your highlight? Experiencing a new culture as a whole and experiencing a hospital with limited resources. The clinicians had ability to diagnose a condition when there were no CT or MRI scanners or without reagents for blood tests. I watched one clinician examine a patient and diagnose her with cavernous sinus thrombosis without a head CT. My highlights outside of the hospital was snorkelling on this remote island where there was untouched reef and beech huts. What was the worst bit? Having to leave.What did you learn? I learnt about a developing healthcare system. The most eye opening bit was that they regularly gave out amoxicillin even if it was a viral condition but then they ran out of this antibiotic quickly. Therefore they gave gentamicin instead but had no reagent for kidney function to change the dosing if they had impaired kidney function. They also didnt have CT/ MRI scanners so they have to go to Australia or Fiji if they are absolutely necessary.
Laura HuttonWhere did you go? Upolu, the larger of the two islands of Samoa What did you do? We spent 4 weeks in Apia, working in the main hospital on the island. I was attached to the paediatrics department for the majority of the time, spending one day a week in a rural hospital, in the small village of Lalumanu, doing consultations and simple procedures in the absence of any GP service. What was your highlight? At risk of sounding very clichéd it is really hard to choose! From a medical perspective, my most memorable moment was watching my first natural birth. We were in the rural Lalumanu hospital, with a single maternity bed and one midwife. The midwife was delivering her second baby of the day in a consultation room as the matron of the hospital grabbed me to help with the third lady (much to my surprise!) She had been in labour at home for 10 hours and so baby was not willing to wait on the midwife. Samoan women are very strong women, and pain relief in labour is unheard of. As a result, it was shocking and emotional and amazing all at the same time. Especially when I was handed the newborn and told to ‘sort him out’. The whole experience was breath-taking, even if I’m not a budding obstetrician! As an added bonus, baby ended up with two birth certificates – apparently ‘Fufu’ is the Samoan name, meaning warrior and ‘Fofo’ means masturbation…it was an easy mistake to make! Most Memorable bit? Swimming in the stunning To’Sua Ocean Trench, gorgeous and a little bit terrifying at the same time. It has an extremely strong current and Samoa hasn’t heard of health and safety yet! What was the worst bit? Watching young children be admitted repeatedly with asthma attacks, due to the belief that using inhalers daily results in ‘addiction’. A belief that was almost unshakeable in most parents, and so very frustrating! Also, herbal medicine and traditional healers are becoming more popular in Samoa in recent years, resulting in minor infections becoming life-threatening after being ‘treated’ with herbal poultices. Many patients with simple infections such as cellulitis or gastroenteritis became septic or developed gangrenous limbs before attending hospital. Treatable conditions were often worsened to the point of irreversible damage or death and in quite a few instances, the doctors were blamed for not ‘fixing’ these patients. What did you learn? 1.The importance of health education. 2.The importance of clinical judgement (I left with much more than I arrived with!) 3.How to triage effectively 4.When to escalate (which is, FYI, when a patient makes me panic – I’ve learned to trust my gut!) Has your elective changed your outlook/future career plans? Yes. I realised that paediatrics isn’t for me, I’m not cut out to deal with the tragedies and I miss the adult side of medicine. Mainly, I’ve realised I am definitely a generalist and the idea of starting treatment from first presentation really appeals to me – so a career in A+E or as a GP is looking attractive at the moment. I’ve also realised I love the excitement of living and working somewhere that is completely alien to what I’m used to, although whether or not that is something I will do for a prolonged period in the future currently lies in Mr Hunt’s hands…
Our current prime minister, David Cameron, has intentionally put his private parts into the mouth of a dead pig. This allegation has been made in an unofficial biography written by Lord Ashcroft and published in the Daily Mail making this one of the most serious character assassinations in British politics. The incident took place as part of an initiation ceremony into the notorious Piers Gaveston drinking club at the university of Oxford.
The allegations have been made by a w e l l e s t a b l i s h e d a n d f o r m e r Conservative Party deputy chairman. The tax-dodging billionaire has donated over £8 million to the Conservative Party and helping them considerably following their disastrous defeat in the 2005 elections. Despite this, the book, Call Me Dave, is intended as ‘revenge’ by Lord Ashcroft for not receiving a high office position in exchange for the millions donated to the party.
We’ve al l done stupid things at university, instigated by peer pressure more often than not, but I strongly believe that I speak on behalf of the majority, the 99%, that such acts have never involved dead heads. The gross act performed by ‘Hameron' is repulsive and inexcusable but nevertheless it provides a glimpse into the upper class right wing team-building that these young men undertake in order to have access to the highest rungs of British society.
Cameron was also part of another ‘secret’ society of filthy rich young men - The Bullingdon club. Supposedly, the aim of this club is to dress up incredibly
fancy, get stupid ly drunk at an extravagant restaurant and destroy the place. It is also ostensibly known that one of their initiation rites involves burning a £50 note in front of a homeless person. The MP who provided Lord Ashcroft with the details of the pig incident described that the club ‘was all about despising poor people’.
Yet these are the men that go on to become cabinet ministers, run banks that crashed the economy and hold high positions in media empires to protect themselves and divert attention. Indeed, it is these secret societies and the acts that they call for that allows such strong bonds to form between these men. Such disgusting and vile acts enable the rich and powerful to protect one an another. Revealing one’s dirty little secret has no purpose when you can use it to control them. It is the alliances formed by these powerful rich kids that go on to define their political ideologies. The Bullingdon and Piers Gaveston clubs were built around mutual values of hating the poor, sexual humiliation and the creation of shared secrets. This creates an ag reement o f mutua l l y assu red destruction between men with intensions of holding some of the highest positions in society - we know each other’s secrets so lets stay on the same side, ok? This ideological training that Cameron undertook is understood by some members of the public but is scorned. This feeling is made worse
when these men are waging a war on the poor and disabled.
Many members of the British ruling class believe that the antipathy towards the privately educated Etonian archetype comes from mere jealousy. They believe that any criticism directed at them comes from envy. This belief comes from the idea of meritocracy which is instilled into 7% of pupils that attend Britain’s independent schools. Despite the majority of households not being able to afford to send thei r ch i ldren to independent schools, privately educated men (yes, mostly men) make up a third of MPs, a majority of lords, over half of newspaper columnists and a staggering 70% of judges. This idea of meritocracy is unjust and wrong, especially when it is common knowledge that the old boys’ network only look after their own.
The sexual act performed by Cameron despite providing humour for many has granted the public with an insight about the ruling class and how democracy is bought. Cameron was punished by Lord Ashcroft for breaking the rules - you will obey the people who made you, or you will be humiliated. This is the antithesis of democracy. You get to become prime minister not because you’re talented, work hard or by purely being rich, you need to show complete submission to your fellow oligarchs by traumatising the homeless and f****** a pig.
Bruno Gnaneswaran
Mutually Assured Destruction #PigGate
This past month 50 countries met and signed a new agenda for the world - it boldly aims to eradicate poverty, champion sustainable energy and reduce inequality. They replace the millennium development MDG). 17 goals and 169 targets make the sustainable development goals (SDGs) the most ambitious and exciting thing UN has done.. ever.
The MDGs were pretty successful, less mothers are dying and so are their babies. If that doesn't make your heart smile, get an echo something's wrong. Extreme poverty is defined as living on less than $1.25 a day, in comparison 2000 half the number of people live below that line. However this still leaves 836 million people living under $1.25- the cost of one galaxy chocolate bar.
Why do we need the SDGS? - Well, people are being displaced by natural disasters which increase in intensity and frequency as our planet warms. Thankfully, SDG number 13 seeks to
'Take urgent action to combat climate change and it's impacts.' This coincides with the Paris summit later this year when countries meet with the intention to cap the global temperature rise at 2o. Furthermore, as much as Beyoncé loves to sing about women ruling the world, it's not the case. Gender inequality comes to be rife in both developed and developing countries, via pay gaps not justified in the 21st century. When 62 million girls are still denied the right to an education, something needs to happen.
Whereas the mil lennium goals s e e m e d d e s i g n e d f o r n o n -governmental governments to champion in the less developed world, the SDGs are for everyone. They make everyone accountable for development and protection of our earth. We must remember though that the SDGs are a framework and not a contract. Targets are defined as aspirational and global, with each Government setting its own national
targets guided by the global level of ambition but taking into account national circumstances. This is to allow for goals to be reinterpreted, the timings adjusted so that they can fit the political framework for different governments making them more practical and achievable.
We must look at our future, our planets future then our children's future to act responsibly and selflessly. Some argue that 17 goals is a lot, but 2015 could be the year the poverty and pollution peaked that we started to take a sustainability seriously. We're all stakeholders in this framework and you can help by choosing one or two of the SDGs and a c t i v e l y fi g h t i n g f o r i t s accomplishment.
One way you could do this is attend UEA Medsin's Global Health Short Course starting on the 15th October with a talk on Conflict and Migrant Health.
Liban Ahmed
Sustainable is the New Black
There is No Shame in SadnessIt is the 283rd day of the year, Fiji became independent, The Great Chicago fire burnt more importantly, in my opinion, it is World Mental Health Day. Yes, I am talking about October 10th. If you’ve read this far then congratulations and hopefully you will continue reading as I will explain what October 10th means to me.
Imagine lying in your bed, crying uncontrollably for days not being able to sleep, not being able to eat, and not being able to speak when it all suddenly becomes clear-this is the lowest point of my life. It has lost all meaning and the only thing you can think to do is to end the suffering by taking all the paracetamol in your room in a desperate attempt to end it all. Well, that was me several months ago.
F o r a n y o n e w h o h a s b e e n unfortunate enough to be in a similar situation I plead to you to seek help. No, that does not mean that you
have to call the shrink, -get labelled mentally insane and get locked away in a looney bin but it can be as simple as talking to a friend. I was fortunate. I realised that this was the wake up call I needed, a desperate cry for help and thankfully someone answered. I was scared that no-one would believe me that no-one could help me that no-one cared. I was wrong. People will believe, people can help and people CARE.
Visiting the doctor was the first step to my recovery but my biggest leap was talking to friends. By speaking to those affected with depression for the first time I didn’t feel so alone. It is an incredibly cathartic experience talking to a stranger about the lowest points of our lives.
If talking to your friends is difficult then Nightline is always there to lend an ear. For anyone who does not know “Nightline is a confidential and impartial listening and information service run for students by students –
We are here for YOU”. Nightline runs throughout the year and is always available to contact either in person, text or online no matter what your issue is; from depression to feeling a bit homesick no problem is too small and no-one can underestimate the power of a friendly ear. The Dean of Students is another service that is available to all students. They offer help in the form of counselling and cognitive behavioural therapy, both of which I have tried and recommend, among a myriad of other services for different issues.
There is still stigma attached to mental health problems one that needs to be tackled head on via increased awareness and discussion. For all of you who are suffering with ill mental health I implore you to take this opportunity to talk to someone. October 10th is your day.
Peter Baines
I have several problems with the DDRB proposals on junior doctor contracts. Firstly, I believe that removing the financial penalty that trusts currently pay if juniors work more than the European Working Time Directive allows would lead to this practice being more prevalent. Secondly, given that inflation has eroded away at pay since the financial crisis, I don’t think it would be un reasonab le f o r modes t increases to be suggested. Thirdly, if there did need to be ‘winners’ and ‘losers’ under a new scheme, I feel it would be fairer for those who work the most gruelling and anti-social hours to come out of things better.
However, given the areas that I personally find to be the most significant, I have become frustrated with some of the arguments that I’ve seen doing the rounds. I have seen articles talking about a return to 90-
hour weeks, petitions saying that salaries will be cut by 30% (the Guardian even going up to 40%!) and that there will be an even greater crisis in hard to fill specialities. This frustrates me as it’s either highly speculative, not the whole picture or just factually incorrect. Under the proposals doctors will not be asked to work longer hours and hospitals are still required to keep to a 48-hour week averaged over 17 weeks. There is the issue about whether hospitals will stick to this if they are not penalised for ignoring it but the proposals themselves do not call for more hours. They also don’t suggest an overall drop in pay; the changes will be ‘cost neutral’ in that average take home pay for a junior doctor should be the same. However, reclassifying anti-social hours means that some will be better off and some worse. Finally, we don’t know what will happen to hard to fill specialities.
The DDRB seems confident that the relatively untested ‘flexible pay premia’ wi l l be better than a n a t i o n w i d e s u p p l e m e n t . I t ’s impossible to say how effective these will be but to argue that hard to fill specialities will get no extra funding is a bit disingenuous in my opinion.
I hope I’ve been clear that I do not want the new contract in its current form and I fully support the junior doctors who intend to strike if they too think it’s unfair. However, as medical students and doctors I think it’s essential that we deal in facts both with each other and the public. If we want to negotiate a better contract then we have to deal with the one in front of us, rather than a demonised parody of it.
